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Teaching the Catholic Faith on Lake's Shore
The peaceful lakeside campus of the Orchard Lake Schools offer students, future priests and visitors a beautiful space for prayer and the opportunity to learn about Polish-American history. John Paul II visited here in the 1970s.
Looking for some peace and quiet just a stone's throw from Detroit? Orchard Lake Schools, nestled on the shores of Orchard Lake in suburban Oakland County, Mich., are about 30 miles northwest of Detroit and five miles south of Pontiac.
Back in the 1970s, a certain Polish cardinal named Karol Wojtyla visited there, commenting that if the Orchard Lake Schools did not exist, they would have to be created. The future Pope John Paul II was very much aware of how significant Orchard Lake has been to Polish-American Catholics in the United States.
Back in 1885, the first major wave of Polish immigration was flooding into New England, the mid-Atlantic states and the industrial Midwest. Between 1870 and 1920, about 1.5 million Poles settled in America. They fled economic poverty and political repression at home: Russia, Prussia and Austria had wiped Poland off the map in 1793 and would continue to occupy the country until 1918. Paradoxically, Polish farmers became the backbone of America's Industrial Revolution: Along with contemporary Italian, Hungarian, Greek and Slovak immigrants, they provided the muscle that kept America's factories running.
Stripped of a country and ground down in poverty, one thing nobody could take from the Poles was their faith. Where Poles settled, they soon built a church. In the years since their mass immigration began, America's Poles built, by nickels and dimes, a network of almost 800 parishes (about 200 of which still exist, though contemporary trends of consolidation and parish closure are having a significantly adverse impact on that number).
Father Joseph Dabrowski was one of the priests who came during that era, and he saw the need for systematic pastoral care for the immigrants. He brought the Felician Sisters to the United States, an order of nuns that historically played a huge role in staffing Catholic parochial schools in Polish parishes. In addition, Father Dabrowski also founded a seminary to train priests to staff those parishes. Sts. Cyril and Methodius Seminary began in Detroit, chosen for its halfway point between the burgeoning Polish communities of the Eastern seaboard and Chicago.
Father Dabrowski died in 1903 and was succeeded by Father Witold Buhaczkowski. As the seminary grew, it needed more space. When Father Buhaczkowski learned that the Michigan Military Academy was up for sale, he took the risk of relocating to what was then a rural outback of Detroit. This is where the Orchard Lake Schools were born.
At one time, one could go from ninth grade to ordination at Orchard Lake, starting at St. Mary's Prep, moving to St. Mary's College, and finishing at Sts. Cyril and Methodius Seminary. The college became extinct about a decade ago; its operations were taken over by Madonna University's Orchard Lake campus. But the seminary and prep school both remain. The seminary still prepares young men for the priesthood, although today a significant proportion of the students are clerics from Poland, ready to serve both the Polish-American community as well as many other priest-needy dioceses in the United States.
When Father Buhaczkowski moved the "Polish Seminary" to its perch on beautiful Orchard Lake, he really moved into the country. Even when I went to college there in the late 1970s, an encroaching suburbia still hadn't completely dominated the area.
Driving up Orchard Lake Road, resist the temptation to stay on the main drag. Follow the lake road instead. You'll quickly feel yourself entering a more peaceful world. As you approach the schools, look left — you'll come upon a campus jewel: the beautiful Lourdes Grotto, which was established in 1942. Our Lady watches over the schools and the lake as the flames of votive candles flicker on the altar inside the grotto. You'll likely find some students praying there; in May and October, the Rosary is recited here daily.
The schools occupy a beautiful and spacious campus, at whose center stands the Shrine Chapel of Our Lady of Orchard Lake. Built in 1962, it is dedicated to Mary, Queen of Poland and patroness of Orchard Lake.
The roof, which curves upward and is made of Douglas firs, resembles hands folded in prayer, intended to lift the mind and heart to God. The design is natural but noble: marble, fieldstone, fir and mahogany combine, centering on the altar. Behind the altar are gathered life-size bronze statues of Jesus and the Twelve Apostles, reminding worshippers that the Mass is the Last Supper again made present.
Venture into the sacristy and visit the six exquisite chapels there. Designed to provide more cameral quarters for the once numerous priest faculty to celebrate Mass, they remain in use. One contains a replica of Wit Stwosz's triptych from the main altar of the Mariacki Church in Krakow. One contains carved images of the saints — like the Jesuit martyrs — who were instrumental in bringing the faith to North America, while another holds the images of figures like Sts. Hedwig and Jan Kanty, the saints of Poland. The chapel was intended to blend modern architecture with various elements of the Polish tradition.
Mass is celebrated every Sunday at the shrine chapel at 11am. There is also daily Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Every first Sunday of the month, there is also a special Polish Sunday Mass at 1pm, which is sometimes followed by cultural programs. A Polish-language radio Mass is broadcast from the schools every Sunday at 9am from the seminary's chapel.
Stroll the grounds and visit that chapel as well. The campus bookstore (open First Sundays) stocks a fair supply of religious literature, in both English and Polish. There are regular on-campus exhibits about the Polish contribution to Europe, America and the world — prominently featuring Poland's beloved son, Pope John Paul II.
Stop by Our Lady's Grotto, enjoy the peace, and thank God for the approximately 3,000 priests these schools have given to the Church in the United States.
It is a lovely setting for such a heaven-focused endeavor.
John M. Grondelski, a 1981 St. Mary's College alumnus, writes from Perth Amboy, New Jersey.
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- February 26-March 10, 2012


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DescriptionWelcome to the Carnival! In this classic shooting alley game you have to hit as many moving animal targets as possible with your air gun. 3 levels with unique animals on each level and tricky moving targets makes this game more fun than a ride in the rollercoaster. Can you lure out the secret animals from their hiding place?
- Shoot the moving animals target as they cross the game field. Try to hit each animals target zone for a maximum score. Watch their movement pattern to time your shots right.
- Move the aim with your mouse and click to shoot. Click again to reload when the clip is empty. Avoid the animals with the white flags.
- You have to achieve the target score on the first levels to progress. If you hit the target zone of an animal with a golden flag this triggers a special animal to appear. Hit the golden ball it is carrying for a special score.

subset: commoncrawl


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The message below is posted on behalf of Council Member Alter, Council Member Kitchen, and I.
Since the 10-1 Council took office, we as City Council members have been listening to the people of Austin, our city staff and consultants throughout the difficult process of creating a new Land Development Code that reflects our shared values and meets the challenges of a growing city.
Because of the length and detail of the Code, we have decided to outline our thoughts on some of the major issues that will determine how we move forward as the Code enters its next phase.
Imagine Austin provides a vision for Austin's future, but our existing 30 year-old Land Development Code lacks the tools to help us realize that vision. Under our current Code, our fast growing city is facing a confusing and costly permitting process. This is contributing to rising housing costs, demolitions of homes and older affordable housing, gentrification and displacement of long-time communities. The current Code also limits our ability to address risk of flooding, traffic congestion, and to provide more affordable housing options.
It has become clear that we cannot allow the current, unwieldy Code to remain in place.
We share the belief that a new Code is a critical opportunity to create tools to help address many of our city's challenges, better manage our growth, and protect what we love about our city. We do so while acknowledging that a new Code by itself cannot solve all our community's problems and that local government is limited in its ability to control the market. The task before us is to calibrate the tools and levers that we do have to achieve, in practice, Imagine Austin's vision.
The goals listed here: http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 195617.pdf , cover many, but not all, of the major Code challenges and opportunities, including housing supply and affordability, permitting, flooding, impacts of growth, transportation, and environment. These goals represent many of our shared expectations for a successful rewrite of Austin's new land development Code and a path forward.
Mayor Steve Adler
Council Member Alison Alter
Council Member Ann Kitchen
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text: Get all your aggression out on Thursday nights at Summer Shack and Summer Shack Cambridge with a weekly Crab Smash. For $24 you can get three crack-and-eat crabs courtesy of chef Jasper White and his team. Dismantle these crustaceans as delicately or as bluntly as your mood dictates, just be sure you get all the sweet, succulent meat out. For more information or to make a reservation call the Back Bay location at 617.867.9955 or the Cambridge spot at 617.520.9500.


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New Jersey Woman Accused of Burglary Flips the Bird at Police in Mugshot
By R.J. Johnson - @rickerthewriter
February 12, 2019
An Old Bridge, New Jersey woman has been charged with breaking into multiple cars in Spotswood, but it's her defiant mugshot that will have people talking.
According to Spotswood police, authorities have been receiving "numerous" reports over the last few months of cars being broken into on Janice Drive. One resident captured video of the suspect trying to break into her car on Jan. 13, and again on Jan. 27, police said.
Then, on Friday, Feb. 1, a Spotswood police officer spotted the woman pictured in the surveillance video walking onto a resident's driveway. The patrolman stopped her, and identified her as Shana A. Hilsman of Old Bridge. Police found a number of "burglary tools" on her, police said.
"During an investigation she was found to be possession of numerous burglary tools, including a screw driver, hammer and the same flashlight seen on the surveillance videos," Spotswood police wrote.
As you can see in the mugshot, Hilsman wasn't happy about being arrested and threw up the double bird for the camera when police took her photo.
Hilsman was was charged with burglary, criminal trespass, and possession of burglary tools. The 32-year-old was booked into the Middlesex County Adult Corrections Center.
Court records show that Hilsman was convicted of burglary last year year and sentenced to three years of probation.
Photo: Spotswood Police Department


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Ever wake up in the morning and just think, "Yikes! That was a tough night!" Last night was one of those nights for me. The temperature is rising around here, as expected in the second half of June. With the warmer nighttime temperatures come more sleepless nights for me. (I like sleeping in colder weather, with lots of blankets and covers.) This time around I'm experiencing extreme discomfort with the itchy, reactive skin that envelops my body.
Heat alone should not keep me up half the night, though. I also endured a difficult night with my rash. The last few days it has been itchier and thicker than before. I'm often obsessing for elusive reasons when my skin condition worsens. This time I can point to the weekend's lodging. I spent a night in Palm Springs with a group from church. Unfortunately, we shared the bathroom with a group of guys. Some of them used shampoos and soaps that just set my allergies way off the scale. Since just about anything I eat or smell exacerbates the itch, I'm still trying to recover from the trip.
I'm feeling pretty down and actually don't feel like eating at all.
This itch began some weeks ago, within my first two months of starting Humira. I'm convinced the Humira activated the rash. Now my allergies make it worse. To combat the itch I'm trying the antihistamine Atarax (hydroxyzine). Unfortunately, it knocks me out almost as severely as Benadryl. With one pill I experience headaches and drowsiness the next day. With half the dose, I don't experience enough of the anti-itch effect to be worth taking it. To make matters worse, I take my Humira injection tomorrow evening. Will that shot of medicine make the rash considerably worse? Ah, side effects. Is there a drug therapy out there for psoriasis without them? What do you do when the side effect feels worse than what you're trying to cure?
I've always tried to avoid taking medications to counter the side effects of my psoriasis medications. When my cholesterol and triglyceride blood levels elevated with Soriatane and Neoral, I used diet and exercise to control them. When methotrexate rendered me useless with nausea and fatigue, I rested until those symptoms passed. Now, with this itch, I'm questioning whether I should take Atarax, or anything else, to counter the side effect of Humira.
In the meantime, I'm back to taking deep breaths, using lots of moisturizers, and just hoping that the wave of rash subsides before it completely washes over me. Now if I could only wake up from this Atarax fog my brain is in!
Sort of off the subject, I found an article online by Briton Guy Kennaway titled, "I spent 20 years looking for a cure for my psoriasis - and found it in a most unlikely place." In the article he shares about his struggle with psoriasis, both treating symptoms and addressing emotional issues. I found his article both candid and informative. Hope you get a chance to check it out.
Important: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not Everyday Health.


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The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) announces the election of an industry leader as its 2013 president. Dennis Bray, PhD, FSME, was sworn in along with the rest of the 2013 SME Executive Committee and Board of Directors at the Society's Awards & Installation Banquet.
"Having a passion for what you do throughout your career is one of those rewarding things that gives you a sense of accomplishment, satisfaction and the drive to find ways to improve," said Bray. "I – like many others involved with SME – are fortunate to have found this passion for manufacturing. SME nurtures this passion for those who choose to be a part of it."
A member of the Society since 1985, Bray was elected to the SME College of Fellows in 2003. Additionally, he serves on the Executive, Budget, Finance and Strategic Planning Committees. He previously chaired the former Manufacturing Enterprise Council (MEC) and provided leadership to the development of the Technical Community Network (TCN).
His honors include the SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award and the Ford Foundation Fellowship at the University of Wisconsin.
"SME has a lot to offer," said Bray, "and it is incumbent upon SME leadership to meet the needs by utilizing all facets of SME, by creating meaningful engagements for our contributing members, and by having relevant products and services that inspire, prepare and support the advancement of manufacturing."
Throughout his career, Bray has participated in numerous conferences and events for different organizations serving in many capacities, including session chair, panelist, technical paper presenter and speaker.
Bray is president and chief executive officer of Contour Precision Group LLC in Clover, S.C. Contour Precision Group's family of companies includes Huffman, a manufacturer of precision super-abrasive grinding, additive laser processing and abrasive waterjet manufacturing systems; Huffman Technologies, a provider of manufacturing process engineering services; and Springfield Manufacturing, a contract production services company.
Prior to joining Contour Precision in 2010, Bray was the managing member of Bray Innovation Group LLC. He was president and CEO of Cincinnati Incorporated and earlier served as its executive vice president.
Bray is a member of Crescent Chapter 215. He holds a bachelor's degree in engineering, and a doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Also elected to serve on the 2013 SME Executive Committee:
President-Elect: Michael F. Molnar, FSME, CMfgE, PE
Molnar is the chief manufacturing officer of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and director of the interagency National Program Office for Advanced Manufacturing. He has more than 25 years of industrial experience in leadership roles. Molnar was elected an SME Fellow in 2008. He has held many leadership positions with SME since joining in 1982, including service as the Society's vice president. Molnar holds BSME and MSMSE degrees from the University of Wisconsin, and an MBA from the University of Notre Dame. (more)
VicePresident: Wayne F. Frost, CMfgE
Frost is retired from John Deere Waterloo Works where he managed the lean manufacturing program. With John Deere for 37 years, Frost accepted increasingly responsible positions in manufacturing management, quality assurance and supply management. He has been an active SME member since 1983 and has served at international, regional and chapter levels. His honors include the SME Award of Merit, SME President's Award, the SME Waterloo Chapter Kurt E. Lear Award and the John Deere General Manager's Award. He earned a BS and MS from the University of Northern Iowa. (more)
Secretary/Treasurer: Dean L. Bartles, PhD, FSME
Bartles is vice president and general manager of the Large Caliber Ammunition Strategic Business Unit for the Ordnance and Tactical Systems Division of General Dynamics Corp. He also serves on the Department of Commerce Manufacturing Council and the Manufacturing Council for Defense Industrial Association. Bartles has a BS from Shepherd College, an MS from Tampa College, an MBA from Shippensburg University and a doctorate in business administration from Nova Southeastern University. (more)
At-Large Executive Committee Member: Sandra L. Bouckley
Bouckley joined EATON Corporation in January 2011 as vice president of advanced manufacturing for the industrial sector. Bouckley was named one of the 100 Leading Women in the North American Auto Industry by Automotive News in 2005. She has served as director of advance manufacturing engineering at Chrysler and held positions in product engineering at General Motors. Bouckley holds an MBA from Michigan State University, and an MS in manufacturing management and BSME from Kettering University. (more)
For more information, visit: www.sme.org/bod


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The World of Terraria consists of many different types of Environments, also known as Biomes contained within Layers. These environments are characterized by unique enemy spawns, block formation, loot tables, and oftentimes a background.
- For a list of all pages pertaining to environments, see Category:Biomes.
The sky is the area above the world. Most notably, it is the area in which Floating Islands are found, along with Harpies and, in Hardmode, Wyverns. At very high altitudes, near the world's upper boundary, the background changes to a black, starry scene and gravity is greatly reduced. This area is referred to as space.
Skybridges are commonly constructed at high altitudes for fast travel around the world.
This area, despite being underground, is still considered to be above sea level. Therefore, the music will remain the same as the biome that's above it, and any monsters found within the dirt layer are also found on the surface, including Green, Blue, and Purple Slimes and at night - Zombies and Demon Eyes. If it's corrupted, hallowed, or crimsoned, the mobs that normally spawn at the surface will also spawn. You can also place blocks onto the background without needing to connect them to other blocks. Brown Chests are found most often here with very low powered loot.
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This layer is located just below sea level. You can tell when you've reached this layer when the background changes to a mix between dirt and stone, and when the music changes to the underground theme.
Gold and Brown Chests are found most often here.
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The Cavern layer comprises most of the Underground. After moving below a certain depth underground, lava starts to appear in place of water. In this area you can find the Glowing Mushroom Biome.
Gold Chests are found most often here.
- Main article: The Underworld
The Underworld, also known as Hell, Hades Land, or the home of the lava is a hellish realm (about 3500 Feet below on Large maps and 1700 on Small ones) that can be reached by digging past the stone layer. It is very easily identified by its background of stone with veins of Lava. It is primarily made of Hellstone ore deposits surrounded by Ash Blocks, with extensive pools of Lava. Chests with unique loot can be found here. The chests in the underworld are mainly Shadow Chests and require a Shadow Key to open. Hellstone can be used to make molten tools and armor.
The Wall of Flesh is a boss that can be summoned by tossing a Guide Voodoo Doll (From a Voodoo Demon you killed) into one of the many pools of lava within the Underworld. Defeating it will activate Hard Mode for your world. After killing the WoF, it is possible to have the underworld become infected by the spreading biomes, the Corruption, Hallow or Crimson. The background color change indicates this. The Wall of Flesh must be beaten for any of these to occur, unless you bring biome-making tools from another world that has Hard Mode on.
Major Biomes
The Purity(Previously known as 'forest') is composed mainly of Dirt Blocks and Trees, and occupy most of the surface. Enemies that spawn in the Purity are relatively weak, making the biome a good starting point for most players. It is also the spawn point for most worlds, as this biome is closer to the center, while other environments take the spaces closer to the edge.
Caves leading to The Underground are usually scattered throughout the biome. Vines grow below grass-covered dirt. Small and large pools of Water are also quite common.
- Main article: Desert
Deserts are large areas consisting of Sand Blocks that are always generated in a new world. Two types of plants exist in the Desert: Cactus and Waterleaf, both of which are used in alchemy. The Desert is useful if you want to craft a large amount of Glass or the Sandgun. Pyramids will spawn in any desert where there is sufficient sand to contain one. One world can have multiple Deserts and Pyramids.
After Hard Mode is activated, Ebonsand, Pearlsand, or Crimsand will gradually take over the area, resulting in a corrupt, hallowed, or a crimson desert.
There are generally no chests here, except in pyramids.
- Main article: Underground Desert
The Underground Desert an underground cave system similar in concept to the Underground Jungle. In contrast to the Underground Jungle, these caves are smaller, in respect to their function as a pre-hardmode region. Each cave is small, and often joins several others around it. The caves usually have a thin, 1-block wall between themselves and adjacent caves, or at least a very small gap. Either way, in order to properly explore this region, one must take the time to mine out blocks very frequently as they move along.
- Main article: Ocean
Oceans are large bodies of Water that spawn on both ends of the map with large beaches of sand. They are the only place you can find Coral. Monsters in the ocean include Sharks, Crabs, Squid and Pink Jellyfish and have a chance to drop the Pirate Map if Hard Mode is activated.
Oceans typically have many water chests, which usually contain water-related items, such as the Trident, Flippers, and the Breathing Reed.
Oceans have 2 new backgrounds in 1.2, having 2 looks with one with moais (a reference to Easter Island) in 1 island but the others do not and one without them.
- Main article: The Corruption
The Corruption forms during the creation of a map at a random position. In most cases there are 2 to 4 Corruptions per map. This biome has a chance to replace the Crimson entirely, making it impossible to have both of them without the Clentaminator. The Corruption spawns higher-level monsters regardless of time and thus should initially be avoided by low-level players. Shadow Orbs can be found here in deep caves called chasms. These chasms can reach all the way to the stone layer. If you happen to have Corrupt Seeds, you can create your own Corruption. Odd thorn-like bushes will grow here. Avoid these, as they will do damage.
While Corruption is initially restricted to spreading through grassy Dirt Blocks, once the Wall of Flesh is defeated, the Corruption will begin to spread through Stone, Sand, Snow, Ice, and Mud Blocks at an advanced rate. Corruption that spreads to Mud turns the blocks into Dirt.
Underground Corruption
- Main article: Underground Corruption
The Underground Corruption occurs when the Corruption spreads through the underground layer. Souls of Night are a resource unique to this biome when Hard Mode has been activated. While you can create this biome while not in Hardmode and Corruption can be naturally generated at underground level on world generation, the biome will not spawn any special mobs until the map becomes Hardmode.
Corrupted Desert
- Main article: Corrupted Desert
The Corruption transforms sand blocks into Ebonsand Blocks.
- Main article: The Crimson
The Crimson is a biome which was added in the PC 1.2 update. The biome is an alternate version of The Corruption, and has a 50% chance to replace the Corruption in newly created worlds. (Only one of the two can exist and fully form at the start of a new world.) Thus, it is functionally the same, with The Crimson spreading further in Hard-mode, corrupting Snow and Desert biomes as well. It has several new enemies, Pulsating Hearts that has the same uses as Shadow Orbs, and Crimson Altars which has a Demon Altar's function.
- Main article: The Hallow
The Hallow is a magic-themed biome, and can be considered the antithesis of the Corruption. Hallowed ground will generate after the Wall of Flesh has been defeated and Hard Mode is unlocked. It will spawn on the opposite of the Corruption, and may even replace corrupted blocks. Like the Corruption, the Hallow can spread across dirt, stone, and sand, though unlike the Corruption, it cannot spread through mud.
Hallowed Desert
- Main article: Hallowed Desert
This biome is formed naturally when the Hallow transforms sand blocks into Pearlsand Blocks.
Hallowed Ice
- Main article: Hallowed Snow Biome
This biome is formed naturally when the Hallow transforms ice blocks into Pink Ice Blocks.
Underground Hallow
- Main article: Underground Hallow
The Underground Hallow forms when the Hallow spreads through the underground layer. Crystal Shards and Souls of Light are resources unique to this biome.
The Jungle is a biome that exists both above ground and underground. It is usually located far away from the spawn point, at the opposite end from the Dungeon.
Surface Jungle
- Main article: Surface Jungle
The Surface Jungle is a tree-filled biome containing decorative vines. The trees here grow without the need to plant Acorns, as long as there is Jungle Grass present. The Surface Jungle typically directly connects to the Underground Jungle. This Biome was added in the PC 1.0.4 update. Like most other biomes, the Surface Jungle has its own music. The Jungle is certainly less dangerous than the Underground Jungle, and yields Chest(s). However, it can still prove to be difficult for newer players because of the mobs.
Underground Jungle
- Main article: Underground Jungle
The Underground Jungle is a very remote area of the World. It is often found beneath the jungle. Like Dungeons, these areas have few dead ends; however unlike Dungeons they are covered in plants. A tip of not getting lost is putting signs with important info like "No Outlet" "Not a through area", etc. Special items that are unique to the Underground Jungle are found in Jungle Shrines which are small buildings made of Gold Bricks that are spawned at random locations. You can often find a higher concentration of Ores like Gold, Silver, Iron, and Copper in the Underground Jungle, as well as the Jungle Temple, a small version of the dungeon where there are many different enemies, all very difficult.
- Main article: Snow Biome
Underground, players will find the Cyan Beetles, Ice Bats, the Spiked Ice Slimes, the Snow Flinxs, Undead Vikings, and the Mother Slime. Players can also find Ice Chests with unique snow biome items.
The Snow Biome can be Corrupted/Crimsoned and Hallowed during hardmode.
- Main article: Dungeon
The Dungeon is an enormous building found close to the edge of a generated World, spanning many layers deep. It is filled with locked chests that contain unique items.
There is only one Dungeon in each World, although a player may create new Worlds and plunder the Dungeons to gain additional items. Rarely, the Dungeon can get cut off by the ocean and only have the Old Man. Digging down through the sand can most often reveal the buried Dungeon.
The Dungeon's upper level is home to an Old Man, which will turn into Skeletron should the player talk to him at night, or summon a Dungeon Guardian if the player attempts to enter the dungeon without killing him first.
Minor Biomes
The Glowing Mushroom Biome is in the stone layer of the world. Dart Traps seem to be more common here, with the usually being one or more per biome. Breaking the glowing mushrooms or the giant glowing mushrooms may yield some mushroom grass seeds.
In the new 1.2 update, this biome can also be found and possibly generated over-world. The planted mushroom grass does grow above sea level but at much slower pace. This Surface Glowing Mushroom Biome has slightly different trees and is required for the NPC, Truffle.
- Main article: Meteorite
Meteorites have a 50% chance to spawn when you break a Shadow Orb during the night, and can also spawn randomly during the night. Meteorites are composed of Meteorite Ore, which deals damage to the player unless an Obsidian Skull, Obsidian Shield, or Obsidian Horseshoe is equipped. Meteorite Ore can be used to make Meteorite Bars, which can be used to make: Meteor Armor, Meteor Hamaxe, Meteor Shots, Phaseblades, Space Guns and Star Cannons. Meteor Heads also spawn around here.
- Main article: Graveyard
The Graveyard is a mini-biome that officially released with the 1.4 Journey's End update. This mini-biome has no brand new mobs but will summon Ghost's, Raven's, etc. This mini-biome has ominous fog, increased mob spawn rates, ghost's & raven's, and gravestones. In a graveyard mini-biome, it will always be night time. In a graveyard mini-biome, the spawn rates of night time mobs are also increased.
- Main article: Oasis
An Oasis is a common mini-biome for the desert that has a lot of plant life. This mini-biome spawns in most desert. This biome has most of the regular desert mobs. The Oasis mini-biome has a lake, cattails, Bugs, palm trees, three different types of flowers, mini cactus's, and small fossil heads as decoration.
- Main article: Floating Islands
Floating Islands are masses of land that appear in the sky. They consist of dirt blocks and clouds. Rain clouds will also spawn around the island. Many Floating Islands also have a building made of Disc which contains a Skyware Chest. In the chest there will be a Shiny Red Balloon, Lucky Horseshoe, or a Starfury along with other various items. Harpies, as well as the Wyvern are unique to Floating Islands. Floating Islands are more difficult to find on a large map without the use of a Sky Bridge or Gravitation Potion, but it is considerably easier on a Small map. If you have Guns, you can use Meteor Shot, (crafted from Meteorite Bar(s), which bounce off of blocks), to find a floating island as well. The Water Bolt spell could also be useful, if you are patient enough for it to bounce back. Meteors have been known to occasionally hit these.
Floating Islands are also known as Sky Islands or Skylands. Floating Islands near the edges of the world can have a Goblin Scout spawn on them.
- Main article: Hive_Biome
The Bee Hive is found in the Underground Jungle and is composed of Hive blocks and Hive Walls. The only liquid found in this biome is Honey. Inside the Hive, one can find Larva Sacs, each containing a Larva, which will eventually summon the Queen Bee boss once destroyed.
- Main article: Spider Nest
The Spider Nest is an area in the stone layer that has a rare chance to appear. Within it, one can find Wall Creepers and Web Covered Chests. In Hard Mode, Black Recluse spiders will spawn. Spider Web spawns at a very rapid rate after being removed, making these a good place to farm Silk.
It is also the only place you can get the Web Slinger.
- Main article: Lihzahrd Temple
The Lihzahrd Temple is a dungeon-like mini environment that spawns its own unique enemies and traps. It is also home to one of the major bosses, Golem.
It is very often found deep in the underground jungle near the lava layer, but can also be found near the surface or in the middle of the jungle.
- Main article: Gemstone Cave
A Gemstone Cave can be found underground within the stone layer.
They are characterized by having a Gem themed backwall (probably the same colors of the gem which is found inside the cave), which can be removed with a hammer, but cannot be collected. The caves also consist of a high concentration of gems scattered along the walls of the cave. Any type of gems can be found in these caves and sometimes even different types of gems.
They can usually be found around 1000 feet below on large maps, 700-900 on medium maps, and around 600 on small maps.
- Main article: Granite Biome
Granite Caves are large, bubbly-shaped caves that occur underground in the cave layer. They do not appear as frequently as Marble Caves. Granite Caves are made up of granite blocks and walls, and can feature pools and various objects of interest on the ground.
It is recommended to view the image at its full resolution, due to the darkness of the blocks in Granite Caves
- Main article: Marble Biome
Marble Caves are horizontal, open caves that occur throughout the entire cave layer and lower. They are composed of marble blocks and walls, with some objects of interest on the ground. These caves intersect nearly everything, including the Undergound Jungle, Bee Hives, other cave systems, etc. Marble Caves are more susceptible to intersection by naturally-forming minecart rails than other biomes. Medusa also has a chance of spawning in Marble Caves.
Other biomes
Sword Shrine
The Sword Shrine is a rare biome that can be found underground. The biome contains a rock 'shrine' inside that may or may not contain a weapon. It is a 1/3 chance to be a real weapon, and a 2/3 chance to be a fake. Usually a long hidden vertical shaft will lead to the shrine. Additionally, The real shrine has a 9/10 chance to be an Enchanted Sword, and a rare 1/10 chance to be an Arkhalis.


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Taddy Wins Again
Denver, CO – Red Bull KTM rider Taddy Blazusiak led every lap of the fifth round of the AMA EnduroCross Series to take the win in front of a packed stadium at the National Western Complex. His KTM teammate, Factory FMF/KTM rider, Mike Brown, earned the final podium spot with a 3rd place result.
Blazusiak set the bar in the late afternoon after earning the fastest lap time in the hot lap session. Brown also turned a decent time during the hot laps to earn the fifth fastest time of the evening.
In the night show, Brown was up first in the second heat of the night. He launched off the line to grab the holeshot and take the early lead. He checked out on the rest of the field and went on to lead every lap to take the win and a transfer spot to the main event.
Blazusiak was up next in heat number three. He started 5th off the line and quickly made a pass into 4th by the end of lap one. A lap later he had rocketed his KTM into 2nd place and soon was able to pass by Cody Webb in the fire pit area to take the lead. He led the remaining laps to take the heat win and a spot on the main event gate.
Mike Brown Finishes on the Podium at Denver
In the main event, it was X-Games EnduroX gold medalist, Mike Brown, with the holeshot. Blazusiak, the reigning EnduroCross Champion, also had a good start and was sitting in 4th around the first corner. Blazusiak wasted no time picking up positions and had moved into 2nd place by the fourth corner and took over the lead through the matrix section of the first lap.
Once in the lead, Blazusiak never looked back and went on to pull away to a comfortable gap. Blazusiak rode a mistake-free race to take the victory. Meanwhile, Brown battled with Taylor Robert for 2nd position throughout the ten lap main event. The two swapped positions twice in the matrix section with Robert just edging out Brown on the final lap. Brown hung on for 3rd to land his KTM on the podium.
Blazusiak's victory in Denver marked his third win of the season. With three rounds remaining, Blazusiak now has a 31 point lead heading to the sixth round of the series.
Next Event: Everett, WA – October 20, 2012
Overall Results –
June 6, 2018
December 20, 2017


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Well, talk about a kick in the ...whatever.Last week I hear from my son all is a-ok the next week I hear he as spent three days in thehospital there and is sick as a dog! Fever over 100 has a horrible barking cough almost no voice on the phone, he says they have him on all sorts of medications. He reports lots of guys there are sick right now as well??That raspy voice was from much more than yelling I see now.He kept trying to tough it out and attend his course/classes each day but they sent him off on medical as it was obvious he was sickHeres me worrying he is getting on ok, has enough to eat and his pillow is not too hard...typical Mom Stuff... when in reality hes been seriously ill. :'(I am to say the least in shock and worried that hes ok now, being unable to do anything here butworry is not very productive and I feel frankly useless and lost. He said he was being re-coursed... son of a ... hes so disappointed I can hear it in his voice hes been so into thisfor a long time and now he gets some sort of freaking flu that just yanks the rug out from under him.Well folks, I need your advice and input again pleaseWhat happens to him now...what are his options.Do some of you have experiences this way and what came of it for you...What does this 're-course' mean for his career in the CAF.Is he still concidered part of the CAF for the three years he signed on for?Does he do BMQ againIn reading other posts here re-coursed recruits are looked down upon almost and that would be beyond unfair if that was to happen for himWhat is the CAFs responsibility as in paying him or is that done for him now?He spoke a bit about going into the reserves maybe attending college as well etcFine and dandy but college costs thousands of dollars!What about the Argyles based here in Hamilton...any input on that as a choice for the summer for himI am sure hes very confused by this all and feeling very disillusioned right now ( I sure am) and having to deal with it when you are ill, well just nothing looks good right now about the whole thing.All things are said to happen for a reason...well I sure hope this reason rears its ugly head soon! I have a few things to say to it!A seriously upset Army Mom in Hamilton


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A virtual tour aboard Steam Yacht Ena: PHOTOS
Click on the gallery above to witness Steam Yacht Ena's Snug Cove arrival, and to take a virtual tour of the treasured vessel.
As it rounded the corner and came in to berth at Snug Cove on Tuesday, Steam Yacht Ena painted a picture of elegance.
More akin to a piece of art than a sea-faring vessel, the 113-year-old treasure described as "flawless and without equal", and widely regarded as the world's best, enthralled the crowd of locals who stood waiting to catch a glimpse.
Despite a full restoration in the 1980s, she oozes Edwardian class and sophistication, and it's not hard to see why she spent so much of her life accessible only to society's elite.
The expansive deck is surrounded by the glean of brass, copper and varnished timber, but below deck is even rarer still.
The main saloon, gentlemen's saloon and ladies' cabin each have their own distinctive style, including an inlaid table, folding card table and etched glass murals respectively.
The engine room is home to a magnificent shining steam engine, and of course there is the surprisingly loud steam whistle, which proved a highlight among the watching crowd on Tuesday.
One of SY Ena's skippers, Hamish Turner, said Eden provided the halfway stopover point on the vessel's journey to Melbourne.
Recently acquired by Hamish's brother Warwick, Ena will now be more accessible to the public under plans to make her available for cruises on Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay and Yarra River.
After taking on fuel and conducting repairs on the engine and other equipment on board, the crew will depart for Melbourne on Wednesday morning, and estimate a three-and-a-half day journey.
"Her main purpose in life has been to entertain guests on board, and that's what we'll be doing with her in Melbourne," Hamish said.
"She's in survey for 49 guests, and that'll be her job in Melbourne out on Port Phillip Bay and the Yarra River.
"Rene Rivkin and a few of his friends were actually heavily involved in the restoration of the boat in the 1980s after it sank near Tasmania.
"They restored it for the America's Cup defence in Fremantle, so she's already been around Australia once, but this would be her first trip out to sea in 30-odd years."
The restoration is just one aspect of a fascinating history which has seen SY Ena pass through 10 previous owners, including the Royal Australian Navy, who requisitioned her in 1917 as a patrol boat in the Torres Strait.
Aside from this, the vessel spent the majority of its early years entertaining guests on day trips around Sydney Harbour, before being bought in 1940 by the Roche brothers and set up for trawling work and harvesting scallops.
It returned to its old stomping ground of Sydney Harbour in the late 1980s as a charter vessel, and was eventually purchased at auction for a private owner in 1991, before Warwick Turner's purchase this year.
A crew of nine, including members of the Turner family and veteran steam engineer John Davis, are currently on board.
"She's pretty rugged-looking at the moment, but once we get her back to Melbourne, we'll be spending a week or so prettying her up, cleaning the deck and getting her back up to scratch," Hamish said.
"Everything's gone well on the trip so far, even though there has been a bit of seasickness on board," he joked.
"A few of us have had a spew, and the Navy in fact bought her off the original owner for about £1500 in its day, and they used her to take the cadets out to see if they were going to be seasick or not.
"The weather at this time of the year isn't ideal to be relocating her to Melbourne, but that's just what we can do around work commitments.
"We're hoping for a bit of good weather and I think it's going to be OK, but we know how important this boat is to Australian maritime heritage – in fact there are only three of these sorts of boats left in the world – so we're not going to put her in any danger, or ourselves for that matter.
"We treat her well, and she treats us well."
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versión On-line ISSN 1870-9044
Polibits no.44 México jul./dic. 2011
Optical Parameter Extraction using Differential Evolution Rendering in the Loop
Mauricio Olguin Carbajal1, Ricardo Barrón Fernández2, and José Luis Oropeza Rodríguez2
1 Postgraduate department, Centro de Innovacion y Desarrollo Tecnológico en Computo (CIDETEC), IPN, Mexico City, Mexico (email: email@example.com).
2 Center for Computing Research (CIC), National Polytechnic Institute (IPN), UP "Adolfo Lopez Mateos", Mexico City, Mexico (email: firstname.lastname@example.com, email@example.com).
Manuscript received May 26, 2011.
Manuscript accepted for publication August 24, 2011.
Image synthesis is highly dependent on rendering algorithm and optical properties of scenario objects. The goal of this work is to develop a methodology to obtain some illumination parameters of a real scenario represented by an acquired image, and use these parameters for a virtual scenario rendering with the same objects as the original. The proposed methodology consists, first, in acquiring an image of the working scenario, and by using a DE (Differential Evolution) algorithm to render images that gradually approximate to the real acquired image, by some virtual scenario parameter modification based on the DE optimization. We call it "ED Rendering in the loop". Finally we use the obtained parameters to render an image to compare it with similar methods.
Key words: Differential evolution, rendering, images, loop, illumination, model.
[1] Y. Willems P. Dutre, F. Suykens, Optimized Monte Cario path generation using genetic algorithms, Report CW267, May 1998. [ Links ]
[2] Srinivasa G. Narasimhan, Mohit Gupta, Craig Donner, Ravi Ramamoorthi, Shree K. Nayar, HenrikWann Jensen, "Acquiring Scattering Properties of Participating Media by Dilution," ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH'2006), 2006. [ Links ]
[3] Wai Kit Addy Ngan, Acquisition and Modeling of Material Appearance, S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Phd. Thesis. 2004. [ Links ]
[4] E.G. Finsy, and J. Joosten, "Maximum entropy inversion of static light scattering data for the particle size distribution by number and volume," Advances in measurements and control of colloidal processes, ButterworthHeineman, Ch. 30, 1991. [ Links ]
[5] H. Jensen, S. Marschner, M. Levoy, and P. Hanrahan, "A practical model for subsurface light transport," in Proc. SIGGRAPH 01, 2001, pp. 511518. [ Links ]
[6] B. Sun, R. Ramamorthi, S.G. Narasimhan, and S.K. Nayar, "A practical analytic single scattering model for real time rendering," ACM Trans. on Graphics (SIGGRAPH) 24, 3, 10401049, 2005. [ Links ]
[7] Fuch E. and Jaffe J. S. "Thin laser light sheet microscope for microbial oceanography," OPTICS EXPRESS 10 (2), 145154, 2002. [ Links ]
[8] R. Furukawa, H. Kawasaki, K. Ikeuchi, and M. Sakauchi, "Appearance based object modeling using texture database: acquisition, compression and rendering," in Proceedings of the 13th Eurographics workshop on Rendering, Eurographics Association, 2002, pp. 257266. [ Links ]
[9] Gero Müller, Gerhard H. Bendels, Reinhard Klein, "Rapid Synchronous Acquisition of Geometry and Appearance of Cultural Heritage Artefacts," in 6th International Symposium on Virtual Reality, Archaeology and Cultural Heritage VAST, 2005. [ Links ]
[10] Wojciech Matusik, Hanspeter Pfister, Remo Ziegler, Addy Ngan, and Leonard McMillan, "Acquisition and Rendering of Transparent and Refractive Objects," in Thirteenth Eurographics Workshop on Rendering, 2002. [ Links ]
[11] G. Müller, J. Meseth, M. Sattler, R. Sarlette and R. Klein, Acquisition, Synthesis and Rendering of Bidirectional Texture Functions, EUROGRAPHICS 2004 State of The Art Report, 2004. [ Links ]
[12] James S. Painter, John K. Kawai, and Michael F. Cohen, Radioptimization goal based rendering, 1993. [ Links ]
[13] Jitendra Malik, Yizhou Yu, Paul Debevec and Tim Hawkins, Inverse global illumination, Recovering reflectance models of real scenes from photographs, 1999. [ Links ]
[14] Yizhou Yu. Modeling and editing real scenes with imagebased techniques, 2000. [ Links ]
[15] Isaac Rudomin Goldberg, Joaquin Elorza Tena, An interactive system for solving inverse illumination problems using genetic algorithms, 1997. [ Links ]
[16] Brian Smits, James Arvo, Chris Schoeneman, Julie Dorsey, and Donald Greenberg, "Painting with light," in SIGGRAPH '93 Proceedings of the 20th annual conference on Computer graphics and interactive techniques, July 1993. [ Links ]


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Testimony to the Senate by Patty Myers
March 20, 2007
Chairman Baucus and Members of the committee:
Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak with you today about opportunities for this committee to make a real difference in ensuring great public schools for every child.
I am proud to be here today representing my 3.2 million colleagues — members of the National Education Association (NEA).
NEA is the largest professional association in the country, representing public school educators — teachers and education support professionals, higher education faculty, educators teaching in Department of Defense schools, students in colleges of teacher education, and retired educators across the country. While our membership is diverse, we have a common mission and values based on our belief that a great public school is not a luxury, but a basic right for every child.
I am also here to offer my unique perspective as a 37-year veteran of the classroom. I currently teach second grade at Lewis and Clark Elementary in Great Falls, Montana, and have served on the Board of Public Education since 2000. I serve as a technology coordinator for my school district, helping educators infuse technology into their classrooms. I also have a special interest in meeting the needs of the students at the Montana School for the Deaf and Blind, having had numerous students placed with me over the years.
NEA members like myself go into education for two reasons — because we love children and we appreciate the importance of education in our society. We want all students to succeed. We show up at school every day to nurture children, to bring out their full potential, to be anchors in children's lives, and to help prepare them for the 21st century world that awaits them.
There is a lot of good news about public education. Over the last twenty years:
- More children are attending full-day kindergarten.
- More students with disabilities are being educated in general education classrooms.
- High school students are taking a more challenging curriculum, with many more completing advanced math and science courses and taking AP courses and exams.
- SAT scores have gone up, even as many more students are taking the test.
- Almost all U.S. classrooms have Internet access.
- Students are safer at school.
- And more students are going to college, with more young adults completing four-year degrees, and more women earning college and graduate degrees.
Yet, my colleagues and I are the first to acknowledge that our public schools face many challenges. We have too many children on the other side of achievement, skills, and opportunity gaps. Too many of our neediest students are still being taught by uncertified and under-prepared teachers. We have unacceptable gaps in access to after-school programs and extended learning time programs; gaps preventing students from accessing a rich and broad curriculum; and significant infrastructure and school environment gaps that hamper learning. These gaps are intolerable. They contradict everything this nation stands for, and they impede our future success.
Federal policy should support innovative approaches to making students' educational experience engaging and relevant to them. The world has changed dramatically since enactment of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, and thus our public schools must also change. Technology has transformed not only our economy, but the world's economy. A wonderful benefit of this transformation is that all nations are more globally interdependent.
Our schools need to reflect the world in which our children live: a world infused with a 21st century curriculum. They need to help students become well-rounded individuals with skills to compete in a changing world and contribute to the rich, diverse societal fabric that makes our country so impressive. Ultimately, an educational experience that is more relevant to a student is going to be more engaging and will lead to greater knowledge and skills. A rich, relevant, and challenging experience can help address all students' needs. It can captivate and challenge our gifted students, while also providing a positive influence for students at risk of dropping out or engaging in high-risk behaviors.
We believe that all public schools should have:
- Quality programs and services that meet the full range of all children's needs so that they come to school every day ready and able to learn;
- High expectations and standards with a rigorous and comprehensive curriculum for all students;
- Quality conditions for teaching and lifelong learning;
- A qualified, caring, diverse, and stable workforce;
- Shared responsibility for appropriate school accountability by stakeholders at all levels;
- Parental, family, and community involvement and engagement;
- Adequate, equitable, and sustainable funding;
Today, I would like to offer some ideas on how this committee, with its jurisdiction over tax and revenue policy, can help address some of these issues. I want to commend you, Chairman Baucus, for your continuing work in this area. For example, your Education Competitiveness Act, introduced in the last Congress, contained a number of innovative ideas for addressing educational quality, including funding for programs encouraging elementary and secondary school teachers to serve in rural or underserved areas and voluntary universal prekindergarten programs focusing on child development.
I will focus today on several key areas in which this committee can make a real difference: teacher salaries; tax incentives to attract and retain the highest quality educators; school modernization efforts to ensure every student a world-class learning environment; and retirement security to reward, rather than penalize, those who have dedicated their lives to educating our nation's children.
I. Educator Salaries
Ensuring a highly qualified teacher in every classroom is critical to closing achievement gaps and maximizing student learning. In fact, no single factor will make a bigger difference in helping students reach high academic standards than ensuring quality teachers.
Unfortunately, difficulty in attracting quality teachers, and the high turnover rates of those who do choose to work in hard-to-staff schools, severely hamper the ability to maintain a high-quality teaching and learning environment. Approximately one-third of the nation's new teachers leave the teaching profession during their first three years of teaching, and almost one-half leave during their first five years of teaching. Turnover in low-income schools is almost one-third higher than the corresponding rate for all teachers in all schools.
We have asked our nation's educators to take on the most important challenge in ensuring America's future. Yet, we have denied these educators economic security and respect. For example:
- According to a recent study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the teaching profession has an average national starting salary of $30,377. Meanwhile, computer programmers start at an average of $43,635, public accounting professionals at $44,668, and registered nurses at $45,570.
- A recent report from the NEA Research department ("Teacher Pay 1940 — 2000: Losing Ground, Losing Status"), which is based on U.S. Census data, finds that annual pay for teachers has fallen sharply over the past 60 years in relation to the annual pay of other workers with college degrees. The report states that, "Throughout the nation the average earnings of workers with at least four years of college are now over 50 percent higher than the average earnings of a teacher."
- An analysis of weekly wage trends by researchers at the Economic Policy Institute shows that teachers' wages have fallen behind those of other workers since 1996, with teachers' inflation-adjusted weekly wages rising just 0.8 percent, far less than the 12 percent weekly wage growth of other college graduates and of all workers. Further, a comparison of teachers' weekly wages to those of other workers with similar education and experience shows that, since 1993, female teacher wages have fallen behind 13 percent and male teacher wages 12.5 percent (11.5 percent among all teachers). Since 1979 teacher wages relative to those of other similar workers have dropped 18.5 percent among women, 9.3 percent among men, and 13.1 percent among both combined.
- Across the nation, teachers are losing spending power for themselves and their families as inflation outpaced increases in teacher salaries last year. According to the NEA update to the annual report titled Rankings and Estimates: Rankings of the States 2004 and Estimates of School Statistics 2005, inflation increased 3.1 percent over the past year, while teacher salaries increased by only 2.3 percent.
These national statistics are reflected in Montana. According to school accreditation reports my Board of Public Education received just last week, our state faces a significant shortage of library media specialists, music teachers, school speech pathologists, and school psychologists. Many of our smaller schools received accreditation with advice because of mis-assigned teachers. Montana is having real trouble competing with other states in attracting and retaining teachers, including our neighbor to the south, Wyoming, where the salary schedule is many thousands of dollars higher. Studies show that 75 percent of graduates from our teacher education programs leave the state.
We believe it is time for the federal government to step up and address this untenable situation. Congress should reward states that set a reasonable minimum starting salary for teachers and a living wage for support professionals working in school districts that accept federal funds. NEA recommends that all teachers in America enter the classroom earning at least $40,000 annually and that all education support professionals start their careers earning at least a living wage. NEA has education support professional members who live in shelters, others who work two and three jobs to get by, and others who receive food stamps. This is an unacceptable and embarrassing way to treat public servants who educate, nurture, and inspire our children.
NEA also supports advancing teacher quality at the highest-poverty schools by providing $10,000 federal salary supplements to National Board Certified Teachers. Congress also should fund grants to help teachers in high-poverty schools pay the fees and access professional development supports to become National Board Certified Teachers.
II. Tax and Other Financial Incentives
Recruiting Educators to Hard-to-Staff Schools
Often those schools with the greatest needs, and consequently the most challenging working conditions, have the most difficulty retaining talented teachers, particularly given the resources and benefits available in more affluent areas. According to the Education Commission of the States (ECS), many hard-to-staff schools are high-poverty inner-city schools or rural schools that, as a consequence of their location in economically depressed or isolated districts, offer comparatively low salaries and lack the amenities with which other districts attract teachers. Typically, such schools have high turnover rates and a high percentage of relatively new teachers because more experienced teachers, whose seniority gives them greater choice in their teaching assignment, tend to go elsewhere.
There are a number of approaches Congress can take to addressing these issues. Many such approaches, including mentoring programs and access to ongoing professional development, should be part of the larger reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act. However, NEA believes that the Finance Committee can play a critical and immediate role in attracting and retaining a quality teaching force by using the tax code to creative incentives to enter and remain in the profession.
For example, NEA strongly supports federal legislation such as the Teacher Tax Credit Act introduced in the 109th Congress by Representative Heather Wilson (R-NM). Representative Wilson's bill would provide a non-refundable tax credit to educators who work at school-wide Title I eligible schools. As a result, it would help hard-to-staff schools in rural and inner city areas retain the quality teachers they need to succeed.
Representative Wilson has indicated an interest in reintroducing her legislation in this Congress. We hope the Senate, through this committee, will also propose and act on similar incentives.
In addition, you should consider other financial incentives to attract and retain quality teachers in hard-to-staff schools including financial bonuses, college student loan forgiveness, and housing subsidies.
Recognizing Educators' Financial Sacrifices
NEA also supports legislation to increase, expand, and make permanent the tax deduction for educators' out-of-pocket classroom supply expenses.
The educator tax deduction helps recognize the financial sacrifices made by teachers and paraprofessionals, who often reach into their own pockets to purchase classroom supplies such as books, pencils, paper, and art supplies. Studies show that teachers are spending more of their own funds each year to supply their classrooms, including purchasing essential items such as pencils, glue, scissors, and facial tissues.
For example, NEA's 2003 report Status of the American Public School Teacher, 2000-2001 found that teachers spent an average of $443 a year on classroom supplies. More recently, the National School Supply and Equipment Association found that in 2005-2006, educators spent out of their own pockets an average of $826 for supplies and an additional $926 for instructional materials, for a total of $1,752.
Over the past three years, I averaged $2,200 out of my own pocket to pay for needed classroom supplies. I spend this money because I know my students need the supplies and I would not otherwise be able to give them the education they deserve. In my school, teachers' personal expenditures range from a low of $500 a year (a new teacher with a family to support on the low Montana starting salary) to my high of over $2,000. In what other profession would employees routinely pay for the essential tools of the trade without reimbursement? Why do we continue to shortchange our schools, leaving them without the necessary resources, and then expect our low-paid teachers and education support professionals to make up the difference?
The educator tax deduction has expired twice since its initial creation and has been extended each time. The deduction is set to expire again at the end of the 2007 tax year. Failing to make the deduction permanent has created unnecessary uncertainty and complication. In fact, because tax forms for the 2006 tax year were printed prior to the last-minute extension of the deduction last year, some educators may not even know of its continued availability.
Senators Collins (R-ME) and Warner (R-VA) have been strong advocates for expanding and increasing the educator tax deduction. They have introduced the NEA-supported Teacher Tax Relief Act of 2007 (S. 505), which would increase the current deduction from $250 to $400 and make it permanent. Representative Camp (R-MI) has introduced companion legislation in the House (H.R.549). Both the Collins/Warner and Camp bills would also extend the deduction to cover out-of-pocket professional development expenses. Ongoing professional development is essential to ensure that educators stay up-to-date on the skills and knowledge necessary to prepare students for the challenges of the 21st century.
NEA strongly encourages this committee to move the Collins/Warner bill quickly through mark-up and to work with the Senate leadership to bring the bill forward for debate and passage.
III. School Modernization
America's schools are in desperate need of repair and renovation. Across the country, students learn in overcrowded classrooms with peeling paint, leaking roofs, and faulty wiring. Some schools hold classes in "temporary" trailers, converted closets, and hallways. Too many students attend schools that lack basic electrical and telecommunications equipment necessary for connection to the Internet or the use of new education technologies. Students attending public schools in less than adequate condition face not only direct impacts on their academic achievement, but also significant dangers to their personal health and safety.
Modern schools clearly impact student achievement. Studies document the link between school building conditions and student learning. A 1996 study by the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University found a significant difference in academic achievement between students in substandard classrooms and demographically similar children in a first-class learning environment. Similarly, a 1995 study of North Dakota high schools found a positive correlation between school condition and both student achievement and student behavior. A 1995 study of overcrowded schools in New York City found students in such schools scored significantly lower on both mathematics and reading exams than did similar students in underutilized schools.
Unsafe and inadequate school facilities also impact classroom order and discipline. Modern, safe environments encourage learning and discourage disruptive behavior, while overcrowded classrooms make it more difficult to maintain classroom order.
In Montana, we do not see much in the way of new school construction or modernization. In fact, our outdated infrastructure and inadequate school facilities are impeding our ability to implement strategies proven to increase student learning. For example many of our older schools need to be updated to meet the needs of advancing technology. Many of our K-2 classes are overloaded because we are trying to keep class size down. And, many Montana schools are having trouble finding room for increased numbers of kindergarten students as we are trying to implement full-day kindergarten.
Qualified Zone Academy Bonds (QZABs)
This committee can help address school infrastructure gaps by strengthening the recently reauthorized Qualified Zone Academy Bond program. We appreciate the work of Chairman Baucus and Senators Grassley, Rockefeller, Conrad, and Lincoln for extending this vital program which is the only existing federal program assisting local school districts with school facility repairs and modernization. The QZAB program permits school districts with low-income populations to save on interest costs associated with financing school renovations and repairs. Currently, QZABs cannot be used for new construction, but can be used for:
- Renovating and repairing buildings
- Investing in equipment and up-to-date technology
- Developing challenging curricula
- Training quality teachers
QZABs also encourage schools and businesses to cooperate in innovative ways that expand students' learning opportunities and help schools prepare students with the kinds of skills employers and our nation need to compete in the global economy.
Schools usually fund large projects, like building renovation or construction, through debt mechanisms such as tax-exempt bonds or loans. School districts then pay a substantial amount of interest on this debt. For schools serving low-income students, QZABs reduce the burden of interest payments by giving financial institutions holding the bonds a tax credit in lieu of interest. The school district must pay back the amount of money it initially borrowed, but does not have to pay any interest — typically about half the cost of renovating a school. Each state is allotted an amount of money its schools may borrow using QZABs. The program's current authorized funding is $400 million annually.
States have the flexibility to choose their own processes to award bond authority to qualified schools. A qualified school is one that is located in an Empowerment Zone or Enterprise Community or has at least 35 percent of its students eligible for free or reduced price school lunch. The two alternative criteria allow both rural and urban schools serving poor children to benefit from QZABs.
The QZAB program has proven to be an efficient and cost-effective tool for helping school districts meet a small portion of their infrastructure needs. It uses a relatively small public investment to leverage significant private sector resources and market forces to accomplish an essential public good. We do, however, recommend several significant changes to the program. These changes are essential given the scope and urgency of the school infrastructure needs, particularly in states affected by Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters. Many of these changes were included in legislation proposed by Senator Conrad and other Finance Committee members in the 108th and 109th Congresses.
- Expand the investor market
When Congress authorized the QZAB program in 1997, it severely limited the market for the bonds. A local government's bond issue can be purchased only by banks (within the meaning of Internal Revenue Code section 581), insurance companies (to which subchapter L of the Internal Revenue Code applies), and corporations actively engaged in the business of lending money. As of 2003, Bank of America was the market leader in QZAB financing nationwide. However, according to the Bond Market, the limited number of potential investors is a problem because it eliminates individual and institutional investors for whom the tax credits are very attractive as well as significant sources of investment funds such as public and private sector pension plans.
- Raise the current funding cap
Congress has authorized $400 million for the QZAB program in each year since its inception. Yet, Congress has repeatedly rejected expanding the program or authorizing additional bonds. According to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the average issue under the QZAB program is below $10 million. In 2000, the Bond Market Association called the $400 million amount "small" and told Congress that the
"small size and short term of the program results in several problems. First, it is difficult for bond issuers, attorneys, underwriters, investors and others associated with municipal bond transactions to commit resources to developing expertise on a new and unknown financing vehicle when very little issuance will be permitted to take place. Second, the small issuance volume has resulted in no significant secondary market for QZABs. A lack of market liquidity discourages investors and raises costs for issuers."
- Make the tax credit "strippable"
"Strippability" refers to the separation of interest (also known as the coupon) from the principal of a bond. In the case of tax credit bonds, the tax credit would be "de-coupled" from the underlying bond and marketed separately, making the bonds easier to sell. Under the current QZAB program, the bond principal and tax credit cannot be stripped or traded separately.
Making the QZAB tax credit strippable would open a new market for the tax credits and make selling bonds less dependent upon finding investors with pockets deep enough to buy the principal amount and those that can use the tax credit. The change would help develop a secondary market for the bonds and potentially reduce discount costs, making more of the proceeds available for school-related expenses.
- Make new school construction eligible
Under current law, QZABs may be used for school building repair and renovation but not for new school building construction. Adding the latter category would make the program more flexible, and would help address the significant need for new school facilities in districts with overcrowded school buildings, as well as in areas hit by natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina.
The Committee can address these issues and can also assist states and local school districts in building newer, more modern schools by considering the America's Better Classrooms Act sponsored by Senator Rockefeller. This legislation will strengthen the already effective QZAB program and will significantly broaden the ability of school districts and local communities to build the new, modern school facilities essential to a world-class 21st century education system.
IV. Retirement Security
Social Security Offsets
I would like to conclude my testimony by addressing educator retirement security — an issue that is inextricably linked to maximizing student learning and fulfilling every child's right to a great public school.
As I discussed earlier, helping every student succeed requires attracting and retaining the highest quality teaching force. Yet, current Social Security law is undermining these efforts by penalizing those who choose to enter public service. In particular, two offsets — the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) unfairly reduce the Social Security and Social Security survivor benefits certain public employees may receive.
The Government Pension Offset reduces Social Security spousal or survivor benefits by two-thirds of the individual's public pension. Thus, a teacher who receives a public pension for a job not covered by Social Security will lose much or all of any spousal survivor benefits she would expect to collect based on her husband's private sector earnings. Nationwide, more than one-third of teachers and education employees, and more than one-fifth of other public employees, are not covered by Social Security, and are, therefore, subject to the Government Pension Offset.
The Windfall Elimination Provision reduces the earned Social Security benefits of an individual who also receives a public pension from a job not covered by Social Security. The WEP penalizes individuals who move into teaching from private sector employment, or who seek to supplement their often insufficient public wages by working part-time or in the summer months in jobs covered by Social Security.
Educators enter the profession often at considerable financial sacrifice because of their commitment to our nation's children and their belief in the importance of ensuring every child the opportunity to excel. Yet, many of these dedicated individuals are unaware that their choice to educate America's children comes at a price — the loss of benefits they earned in other jobs.
While I am not personally impacted by these unfair offsets, many of my colleagues across the country are. The impact on them as individuals is devastating, but the impact on the education profession, and consequently on the success of our students and the future of our nation, is equally troubling.
The GPO and WEP are impacting the recruitment of quality teachers. Simply put, at the same time that policymakers are encouraging experienced people to change careers and enter the teaching profession, individuals who have worked in other careers are less likely to want to become teachers if doing so will mean a loss of Social Security benefits they have earned. Some states seeking to entice retired teachers to return to the classroom have found them reluctant to return to teaching because of the impact of the GPO and WEP. In addition, current teachers are increasingly likely to leave the profession to reduce the penalty they will incur upon retirement, and students are likely to choose other courses of study and avoid the teaching profession.
The offsets will particularly hinder efforts to recruit new math and science teachers from the private sector. Many private sector mathematicians and scientists willingly accept the loss of salary inherent in moving from the private sector into teaching. They do so because they want to make a difference in the lives of children and they want to ensure our nation's competitiveness in the 21st century. But, they will not knowingly jeopardize their retirement security. Every day, NEA receives calls and letter from such individuals, who are learning too late about the penalties they face — the loss of Social Security benefits they earned — simply because they have chosen to leave the private sector and become teachers.
If Congress is serious about encouraging professionals from the private sector to move into teaching, or about encouraging members of the armed forces to consider teaching when they leave the military, you have to repeal the offsets. Most importantly, if you are serious about fulfilling the basic right of every child in America to a great public school, you have to repeal the offsets.
Senators Feinstein (D-CA) and Collins (R-ME) and Representatives Berman (D-CA) and McKeon (R-CA) have introduced the Social Security Fairness Act (S. 206/H.R. 82), which would completely repeal the GPO and the WEP. Both bills have garnered considerable bipartisan support, yet have failed to move. I urge this committee to take immediate action on this important legislation.
Mandatory Social Security Coverage
I would like to caution the committee that NEA's support for repeal of the Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision should not in any way be interpreted as support for requiring public employees to participate in Social Security. NEA strongly opposes mandatory coverage. Instead, NEA simply believes that educators should be able to receive the benefits they or their spouse earned by working in covered employment, without jeopardizing their public pension.
Many existing public employee programs are tailored to meet the needs of specific employee groups. Forcing educators into Social Security would jeopardize these state and local plans. In addition, Social Security trust funds can be invested only in U.S. Treasury bonds. State and local governments permit a greater diversity of investment options, thereby potentially achieving a greater rate of return.
Mandatory coverage of educators would also increase the tax burden on public sector employers. Ultimately, these increased tax obligations would lead to difficult choices, including reducing the number of new hires, limiting employee wage increases, reducing cost-of-living increases for retirees, and reducing other benefits such as health care.
Finally, mandating coverage of educators will not solve the Social Security system's financial difficulties. The amount of money gained by mandating coverage would be relatively small and would not solve the long-term Social Security crisis. Requiring new state and local employees to pay into Social Security would enable the federal government to continue borrowing money from Social Security trust funds, and, therefore, could exacerbate financing problems.
V. Conclusion
I would like to sum up my testimony today by reminding the committee of the important role you can play in building the world-class education system that all of our children deserve — no matter where they live or what their family circumstances.
On behalf of the National Education Association's (NEA) 3.2 million members, I urge this committee to act as quickly as possible on bills to:
- Set a reasonable minimum starting salary for teachers and a living wage for support professionals working in school districts that accept federal funds;
- Provide tax incentives to educators working in hard-to-staff schools;
- Increase, expand, and make permanent the educator tax deduction;
- Strengthen the Qualified Zone Academy Bond program;
- Broaden support for school modernization through the America's Better Classrooms Act; and
- Repeal the Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision.
I thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. I, and the entire membership of the National Education Association, look forward to continued dialogue and action on these important issues.


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If you have problems with the stream, copy and paste this address in your browser: https://reflect-ictv.cablecast.tv/CablecastPublicSite/watch/1?channel=1
ICTV's mission is to connect, inform and empower the community through diverse media. We at ICTV, and that includes our strong member base, have been doing that for nearly 35 years. Public access cable television began in Grand Rapids through the skill and dedication of personnel at Itasca Community College in 1982. The idea quickly spread and ICTV was incorporated as a nonprofit in 1983. From periodic programming on one channel to regularly scheduled programming on three channels, ICTV has grown according to the wishes of our community. The leap into broader media began with a web page in the 1990s and bloomed into our fully integrated web presence in the summer of 2008.
ICTV's three channels focus on traditional PEG (public, education and government) access programming. So our staff and volunteers are as likely to tape a library program as a township meeting. Our online presence focuses on the government channel for maximum impact on our communities. But, we also celebrate the innovative programming the staff creates in the studio and the video our members and friends distribute across the web.
ICTV is cablecast locally on Mediacom's channels 2, 5 and 7, and Paul Bunyan Communications' channels 32, 35 and 37. Communities that support the Grand Rapids Area Cable Commission with franchise and PEG fees which, in turn, supports ICTV, include Grand Rapids, Cohasset, LaPrairie and the township of Harris.
Our television providers extend our reach to other communities of Keewatin, Nashwauk, Taconite, Calumet, Marble, Deer River, Wirt, Squaw Lake, Dora Lake and Northome. The live stream generates interest for former Grand Rapidians and current property owners around the globe.


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Yahoo has decided to go into the application search business and has created its own app that will search and recommend apps on both Android and iOS platforms.
The No. 2 search engine has already released Yahoo App Search, which is the first of its kind for any search engine we know of, but the Y! Appspot promises more personalized app recommendations. Its search function also gives users "at-a-glance" stats, more relevant apps and "faster, easier downloads." Yahoo scans the phone's current apps and previous app searches to deliver more relevant results.
"Unlike 'Top Apps' lists that provide the same apps day after day, you'll get new, personalized app suggestions on a daily basis, so you're always introduced to the latest, most interesting, and relevant apps," wrote Anil Panguluri, Yahoo Product Director of Mobile Search.
U.S. & World
The app, which is on both iTunes and the Android Market, has received mostly good reviews, such as "Just found out about three new cool apps in my daily pick thingie. Finally good recommendations!!" There were also less enthusiastic ones (almost entirely on Android Market) such as, "Scrolling is clunky," and "Not too stoked about non-optional audio."
But why, Yahoo? There are other similar apps out there, startups like Appsfire and Chomp, even discount search apps like AppMiner. Yahoo is a struggling search engine and it makes sense for the company to go into app search -- it's a niche that Google has seemingly missed, probably because it's also blinded by its Android Market. But an app? Yahoo has enough juice behind it, it had 3.8 billion search queries in May, that with the right marketing it could eclipse any of the startups on the market. We'll have to wait and see if Yahoo can hit its stride in app search or continue to lose relevance.


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This is a blog about sports, for people who have interests that include sports, but are not limited to sports. I write about a couple sports, mostly college basketball, NBA, and various other stuff as well. I do not take myself, or sports, too seriously, but I enjoy writing.
I also write on a great sports writing community called Bleacher Report and have had a couple articles featured on CBSSports.com. I had also been writing a weekly article for FoxSports.com focused on college basketball for the majority of this season.
As for me, I live in a land called Fargo, ND with my beautiful family.
Please feel free to comment here at DTP or contact me at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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With a frustrated look on his face, Lakers forward Pau Gasol stood outside of the team's practice facility Tuesday talking on his cell phone and trying to process the latest setback of a disappointing season.
After a visit to an ear, nose and throat doctor showed his respiratory illness has gotten worse, Gasol is expected to sit out when the Lakers (13-16) play Friday against the Utah Jazz (8-23) at EnergySolutions Arena. The Lakers are listing Gasol's recovery timetable as day-to-day to leave open the chance he could play against Utah should he heal. But Gasol sat out of Thursday's practice and didn't travel with the team on its flight Tuesday to Salt Lake City.
Gasol didn't speak with reporters, but he has admitted the respiratory issues that caused him to miss last week's game against Golden State negatively affected his energy level, breathing and aggressiveness.
Possible candidates to replace Gasol in the starting lineup include Jordan Hill, Chris Kaman or even rookie Ryan Kelly. Kaman started in Gasol's place when he sat out of the Lakers' loss to Golden State.
Building ground
Even if the Lakers gush about their positive attitude and strong work ethic, they can't ignore reality. The Lakers remain 12th in the Western Conference, 3 1/2 games behind the Golden State Warriors for the eighth seed in the playoffs.
"We have to start getting back to .500 real quick," head coach Mike D'Antoni said.
"I didn't say we can," he added, joking. "I said we have to."
Even with long-term injuries to Kobe Bryant (fractured left knee), Steve Nash (nerve issues in back) and Steve Blake (hyper-extended right elbow), the Lakers have a good chance to do that. Their next four games are against opponents with a combined 30-88 record, beginning with a road game today against Utah and a homestand against Philadelphia (Sunday), Milwaukee (Tuesday) and Utah (Jan. 3).
"We try to win every game we play," Lakers guard Jordan Farmar said. "We don't ever go out there attempting to lose or saying we can let this one go tonight. So, that's the goal. Every time we step on the floor, play to win and the standings, the stats and everything else will just reflect whatever happens."
Increased role
Rookie forward Ryan Kelly experienced a "welcome to the NBA" moment when he squared up against LeBron James on Christmas, only for the Heat star to beat him easily to the basket.
"It was a pretty easy challenge for him," Kelly said. "I have to make it a little tougher."
But after appearing in three consecutive games, Kelly earned a positive review for his 50 percent shooting, floor spacing and hustle.
"He knows how to play defensively and offensively," D'Antoni said. "Defensively, he's the first one to get to the right spot. I think going forward he can keep earning more time."
The Lakers drafted Kelly with the 48th pick this year and signed him to a non-guaranteed contract. Kelly's deal becomes guaranteed should he stay on the roster after Jan. 10.
"I put myself in a position for (D'Antoni) to call my name," Kelly said. "Now I have to go out there and make him trust me to keep me out there."
Mea culpa
D'Antoni has continued his efforts to apologize in a self-deprecating manner for his recent comments that fans discouraged with the Lakers' play should root for another team.
When asked what he received for Christmas, D'Antoni said, "I didn't get anything yesterday. For opening my mouth, I got a lump of coal. But I'm from West Virgina, so that's a good thing."


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As expected, the Google Play 25 cent sale to celebrate 25 billion app downloads has finally started. While it is unknown how many apps will go on sale every day for the next five days, more than a handful of apps have already had their price reduced to 25 cents.
Below are the list of apps and games that have gone on sale, along with my suggestion if you should buy them or not -:
- Granny Smith – The game was recently released on the Play Store, and if you have not purchased it yet, now is the time. Highly recommended!
- Draw Something – Ever since Zynga acquired Draw Something, the game's popularity has gone down substantially. Since Draw Something is a multiplayer game, check with your friends before buying this game. I will recommend readers to skip the game even at this tempting price.
- Asphalt 7: Heat – Gameloft: Check. Huge download size (1.37GB): Check. Drool worthy graphics: Check. Tempting price: Check. What are you waiting for then? Go ahead and buy Asphalt 7!
- Tasks: One of the best Task management apps available in the Play Store, with Holo theme and expandable notifications for Jelly Bean users. Must buy!
- OfficeSuite HD: For me, OfficeSuite HD ranks second only to QuickOffice in the best mobile office on-the-go app. There is only a single version of the app that is optimized for phones as well as for tablets. Buy!
- Angry Birds Space: Premium – I am not really a huge Angry Birds fan, but if you are, then this is a no-brainer!
- Ocean HD – If you are into live wallpapers, then go ahead and buy this live wallpaper. I usually don't use live wallpapers since they tend to slow down the phone, so if you are a new user, I will recommend you to stay away.
- Cloud and Sheep Premium – If you have a little one around who loves to play games on your phone, then buy this game. Else don't!
- runtastic Pro – I am personally an Endomondo user, but runtastic is an excellent alternative to Endomondo, especially at this price.
- Symphony Of Eternity – Buy it only if you are an RPG fan.
- Let's Create! Pottery – Create virtual pottery items in this game that features some excellent graphics.
At the moment, these are the only apps and games that I can find whose prices have been reduced to 25 cents. I will add more apps and games, if I find any.
Do drop in a comment and let us know if you found an app that is on sale, and is not on the list.


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Milano 7 Piece Queen Bedroom - Graphite
Kit Items
|502-498 Queen Pltfrm Deck
|Milano Queen Panel Headboard - Graphite
|646-466 Qn Pltfm Fbandslats
|646-463 Kg/qn Pltfrm Rails
|Milano Mirror - Graphite
|Milano R/H Nightstand - Graphite
|Milano Dresser - Graphite
Designed with your life and style in mind, the innovative elements of the Milano bedroom collection optimize functionality while maintaining the simplistic but modern look you crave. This furniture is Canadian Made with only the finest materials.See items included for package contents. Image may reflect additional products within the series.
Product Specifics
- Brand: DEF
- Colour: Grey
Product Features
- Solid maple drawer fronts veneer tops and gables
- Durable hardwood dowel construction
- All wood panel H/B
- Storage bed features 4 large full extension drawer
- Storage bed take only a mattress (no box spring )
- Headboard has a 3 way LED light
- Headboard has a power bar with USB charger
- Satin nickel handles on drawers
- Drawer fonts are bevelled and tapered
- Nightstand has motion sensor light in top drawer
- Chiffonier features: 6 drawers w/ 1 hidden felt drawer.